Stranger Things Could Happen
by Phoenix Cassian
Summary: Takes place post-disaster with Fiona. Adam heads to his best friend's house and finds out something he never figured he'd see. Possibly Adam/Clare, implied present EClare
1. Chapter 1

"So I'm not a real man. I'm 'a little bit of both'. Fuck you Fiona. Fuck you," Adam Torres thought as he got the hell out of his... what even would he call their fucked-up little fling?... his, well, his manipulative alcoholic bitch ex-girlfriend's house. He sprinted as fast as he could down the street, running as fast as he could to keep the demons at bay. He somehow ended up at Clare's house.

It was always Clare that he could count on to calm him down.

Grabbing his phone from his pocket, he quickly dialed Clare's cell number and waited impatiently for her to answer.

"Goddammit Clare, answer your phone. Answer your phone..."

After three rings that seemed to last forever, her comforting voice was on the line. "Hey, Adam, I thought you were at Fiona's."

"I was," he choked out. "I'm in front of your house... can you let me in?"

"I'll be right there," she said with a nervous tone in her voice, and within seconds she opened the door and pulled the smaller boy into her arms. "Adam, what's wrong?"

"She... she... she... she only wanted me because she thinks I'm a girl. She doesn't want me to be her boyfriend, Clare. She wants the convenience of being straight when all she really fucking wants is a girl. She wanted to have sex with me, Clare. I told her I'm not ready for it. I told her no, I'm not a girl and I refuse to do it. And she just told me she likes me because I'm a little bit of both. I'm not, Clare… she fucking hurt me…" Adam's voice broke into tears as he realized how stupid he'd been.

"What was I even thinking? I knew no one would want a fucked up boy like me. No one will ever do anything other than use me. I'm stupid. I'm so fucking stupid…"

"Oh, Adam…" Clare whispered, throwing her arms around her best friend. "I don't know what I can do for you…"

"I don't want pity, Clare… I want to burn. I need to."

"Adam Torres, if you even think about that, I'll… I'll… I'll tell Simpson. And then Simpson will tell your mother and your mother will do all sorts of things," Clare threatened wildly, not realizing how stupid of an idea it was to say this.

"Clare, what the hell?"

"I'm just scared for you, Adam! I just… you're my best friend, and I love you!"

Adam paused for a second to take all that in. "Wait… you love me?"

"Yeah…I …I do. I've loved you for a long time. In a different way than Eli. I mean, I love Eli… but… you're so different. And I don't mean that because you're transgender," she quickly amended, seeing a look of anger on Adam's face, "I meant that you're actually caring. You give me space when I need it and you ask what's wrong. I mean… I don't know what to do. I'm in love with Eli, but I do love you."

"Wow… I guess… Clare, I don't even know what to say. I've got to go. Bye," Adam muttered, shocked. He almost flew down the stairs and pushed his way through the door, running until he reached his house.

He sat in his room for a few hours that night and just… thought. "Clare likes me. Clare likes _me_."

Stranger things had never come up in one day for Adam. He turned off his lights and lay in bed, knowing that he wasn't going to sleep that night.

"Clare likes me… she likes _me_."


	2. Chapter 2

The morning seemed to come much faster than usual for Adam Torres. After a fitful night of dreams filled with all the possible outcomes from the last night – Clare kissing him (this had been a common theme) and Eli walking in on them, screaming that Adam had broken the one good thing in Eli's life – Adam was ready to get back in bed, curl up, and pretend he didn't exist.

He was NOT looking forward to seeing Clare and Eli today, for the first time in a long time. It was very clear that he and Clare needed to have a talk without Eli, but since the two were basically attached at the hip, the concept of that happening without arousing suspicion was slim. Eli usually showed up to school about ten minutes after Clare, and Adam realized that this would probably be his only chance in the day to get to Clare to discuss the last night.

"Drew, get your ass up!" he shouted, quickly binding down his chest and throwing on a t-shirt and a hat over his messy hair. "We've gotta go!"

"Jesus, Adam, why so fast today? You usually take forever to get ready in the morning!" Drew grumped as his brother ran into his room, already fully dressed, and grabbed his Axe off of Drew's unnecessarily messy dresser. "Fiona must have really gotten you excited, eh?"

"Drew, not today. Fiona and I are not existent, okay? Dead to me."

"Well, that would make the play a bit awkward…" Drew commented dryly.

"Hey man, I can be professional. She seriously needs to apologize to me. And there's no way in hell I'm dropping out of the play. She's going to have to either quit or write me a nice letter telling me how sorry she is."

"Damn, what'd she do? I thought you liked her."

"Don't want to talk about it, Drew. Can we just get going? I need to talk to Clare."

"And Eli?"

"No. Just Clare."

Laughing slightly, Drew joked, "Maybe you should just stay away from girls for awhile. First Bianca, then Fiona, now Clare too? Man, you're more of a slut than me!"

"Hey, I've never been to the boiler room…" Adam threw back, getting a little angry. Just because Adam had absolutely zero luck with women didn't mean that his brother needed to call him a slut. "Let's just get going," he huffed, grabbing his backpack and running down the stairs.

"If you don't hurry up, I'm walking!" he shouted as he sat on the couch, anxiously awaiting his lazy brother's arrival down the stairs.

An idea suddenly struck Adam. "Actually, I think I will walk. You can get a ride from mom or something. I need the time to think. Bye mom!" he shouted as he headed out the door and turned on his iPod.

Finally, a chance to plan out what he'd say to Clare. Would he ask what happened last night? If it was real? Would he tell her that he understands if she doesn't want to be with him, if she wants him to disappear forever, that he'd transfer out of the school. If she wanted him to never speak to her or Eli ever again, he'd comply completely.

In his head he planned the entire conversation out. "Look, Clare, you're my best friend. And you're dating my other best friend. I know you and Eli are having a rough spot right now, but you're my friends… And Eli is my bro… I don't know that I can do this, even if you wanted to."

Adam told himself that even if Clare did want to be with him, he'd have the courage and strength to say no, for Eli's sake.

He told himself that Clare would tell him it was a mistake.

Or hell, maybe he had just imagined the whole thing and Clare would look at him like he was insane. Honestly, at this point, that would probably have been the best option for him. He had no idea what would happen.

Of course he liked Clare! He'd had a thing for Clare since the day she covered for him with the whole tampon incident. She was the first girl who would do something like that, cover for the stupid trans boy. And she had stuck by his side after the Bianca incident. But she was Eli's. He was dating her. He'd had her first, and Adam wasn't sure he could live with himself if he took the one good thing in Eli's life away from him.

The evil voice of jealousy in the back of Adam's head chose this moment to speak up.

"If she really was his, she wouldn't be interested in you. Maybe she loves you more. Maybe if she'd gotten to know you first, you'd be the one she's kissing, the one she's dating. Maybe she was never his to begin with."

With those thoughts in his mind, Adam arrived at school, only to be stopped by the person he wanted to see least in the world – Fiona.

"Adam, can I please talk to you?" she begged, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"No. Not right now. Fiona, I've got to go. I've got something to take care of," he said stonily, taking her hand and moving it away from him. "I think you clearly said all you needed to last night. I don't' want to talk about this right now. Bye."

He rushed down the hallway where he knew Clare would be and stopped a few feet in front of where she stood, alone, a book in her hand and a dull, expressionless look on her face.

"Clare… hey," Adam said slowly, trying to get her attention.

"Oh, hey Adam…" She looked up, and Adam clearly saw the puffy red eyes that meant that she hadn't slept the night before. "About last night…"

"That's what I'm here about," he interrupted, "I think we need to talk about this before Eli gets here. We need to figure this out before he finds out."

"Adam, I broke up with Eli."

"Wait… what?" Adam asked, his jaw dropping to the ground.

"Well, actually, things haven't been so good lately. He's getting obsessive over me and I realized that I'm stringing him along. If I have emotions for more than just him, I'm not being fair. He deserves better," she explained quietly, a single tear falling down her cheek.

"Oh, Clare, I'm so sorry," he whispered, automatically pulling her into a tight hug. "Are you okay? Obviously you're not okay, that was a stupid question, I'm sorry."

Clare sadly lay her head on Adam's shoulder. "I don't know what I'm doing any more, Adam. I'm lost."

Holding her tightly, Adam and Clare stood in silence for a moment, each listening to the other's heartbeat. One moment of perfect silence and solitude.

But it couldn't last long.

"YOU BASTARD! YOU TOOK HER AWAY FROM ME!"

Adam and Clare separated quickly and looked around to see a clearly livid Eli walking towards them.

"She was mine! My girlfriend! And you took her away. You bastard… I can't believe you betrayed me like this, Adam."

Eli got into Adam's face and moved to punch him.

"Eli, stop it! Stop it! It's not his fault! I'm the one who ended it!" Clare shouted, terrified tears rolling down her face.

"But he started it. I know it. Fuck you, Adam. I trusted you. Fuck you," Eli shouted, rage distorting his features. "I'm gone. This friendship is over."

"Eli, come back!" Clare shouted, tears streaming down faster and faster. "I never wanted it to be like this…"

Grabbing her hand, Adam pulled Clare to a secluded area in the Caf and sat her down. Her tears seemed to be never ending. "Clare, I'm sorry…" he whispered.

Adam never wanted it to be like this, either.

**A/N: Well, that's the end of part two. Is there interest in a part three?**


	3. Chapter 3

As he sat in the Caf with a gently sobbing Clare Edwards at his side, Adam Torres found himself wondering how the hell things had spiraled to the point that they'd reached. Yesterday, he had been in a calm (if a bit alcoholic) relationship-type-thing with Fiona Coyne, and Clare had been in a somewhat happy relationship with Eli Goldsworthy.

But somehow in a period of less than twenty-four hours, everything had turned upside down.

"Clare..." Adam whispered, watching the small girl softly cry tears that were his fault. He wanted nothing more than to make things better for Clare. He loved her more than he could put into words. He always had, but she was Eli's, and bros don't mess with other bro's girls.

He knew that he was twenty times better for Clare than Eli could ever be, but he couldn't tell her that. For all he knew, Clare thought of Adam as purely a friend, and would never see him as anything more than that.

But she broke up with Eli for him... he couldn't help thinking that maybe, just maybe, there was a chance for the two of them. He wanted nothing more than to be Clare's savior, her knight in shining armor, but he felt like he was thoroughly failing at it. Watching Clare cry herself dry hurt him more than seeing Clare and Eli together ever did.

Unsure what to do, but hating himself for not helping poor Clare, he did the first thing that crossed his mind and threw his arms around her and held her tight, hoping that it would make her feel safer, make the tears rolling down her face like a waterfall stop.

She stiffened immediately, unsure what the embrace would mean, but slowly became calmer and calmer. Her tears began to lighten and she almost melted into Adam's embrace, holding onto him like a life vest.

He didn't say a word, just held her tightly, hoping that the hug would say all of the things he wasn't sure how to put into words. Her tears slowed until they were no longer falling, and her breathing began to even out, but still, she didn't pull away. If anything, she held on tighter.

After a few minutes that felt like a lifetime to Adam, Clare pulled herself slightly away from Adam and looked into his eyes. Her face was covered in tear tracks and her voice shook as she whispered out, "Thank you, Adam. Just... thank you."

"Clare, you don't have to thank me. That's what Adams do. We take care of cute girls who need someone to hold them while they cry." He paused for a moment before he decided to continue on with what he'd been meaning to say since he saw her.

"I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you, Clare. You're in so much pain and I hate that I caused it. If there's anything I can do to fix things for you and Eli, please tell me. I just want to see you happy again. I'm willing to leave you alone for as long as you need if it'll make you happy. It kills me to see you in such pain. Clare, I love you, and if leaving you alone is what it takes to make you happy again, I'll leave right now."

Clare looked shocked for a moment, and shouted suddenly, "Adam Torres, don't you dare leave me! I already lost Eli today, I refuse to lose you too! You and Ali are my only friends in the world, and I refuse to become any lonelier than I am. But I do have one request."

A little confused, Adam nodded and said, "Okay, Clare, anything you'd like."

"You need to talk to Eli. I mean, I do too, but you two really need to talk. And I need you to be the man about it, because I know Eli well enough to know he'll be a child. You two need to talk some time today. I know it'll be messy, but you've got to get it over with."

Adam's jaw dropped. "Clare... isn't it a little early for me to talk to Eli? He's probably still steaming..."

"Yeah, he must be steaming, but you two need to work it out before he does something stupid. He'll be irrational and mad and if you don't talk today, things will only be worse when you two actually do talk," Clare reasoned rationally, simply explaining the facts that they both knew about the oh-so-stubborn Eli Goldsworthy.

Adam nodded, resigned to his fate. "Okay, Clare, I'll do it. If I can see you at lunch? Maybe just us? We can go to the place we had that party for Fi..."

"I think that's fair," she agreed. "But I'm going to go find Ali, I need some serious girl talk. Talk to Eli, seriously. I'll see you at lunch." Standing up straight, Clare wiped the tear tracks off of her face and walked into the bathroom, pulling out her phone as she left. Adam watched her leave, wondering what the hell was going to happen next... and was filled with an unnamable dread at confronting Eli.

God, if you had told him that this ridiculous situation would happen two days ago, Adam Torres would have told you that you were nuts. But hey, stranger things could happen.

**A/N: Okay, here's your chapter three. Enjoy! So... what do you want next? (I'm thinking there may be a suicide attempt for one of our characters... :O) If there's interest, I can have a new chapter up soon... In fact, I might write it right now :D Enjoy!**


	4. Chapter 4

Adam Torres knew he really needed to swallow his pride for what he was about to do. After breaking up his best friends, Clare Edwards and Eli Goldsworthy, he felt guilty as all hell, and was dwelling the eventual confrontation that was sure to go down between him and Eli. But unfortunately for him, Clare had insisted that they have their talk right now. As in, today.

Adam definitely knew Eli well enough to know that he would be enraged. An enraged Eli is something that Adam had much experience with... but he'd never had the enraged emotion directed at him, and, honestly, he was terrified. Eli, Clare, and Adam had been the "Misfits" since the day Adam met them, and the idea of Adam ruining that friendship AND Clare and Eli's relationship was too much to bear.

Adam decided he might as well confront Eli now, before he lost his courage. He knew exactly where the other boy would be (outside, by the steps) and headed directly there.

As predicted, Eli stood, scowling, with his iPod blasting and his arms crossed angrily over each other. This was typical brooding Eli, with his "Come by me, and I will kill you" lazers on fry. Taking a nervous, deep breath, Adam tapped Eli on the shoulder and steeled himself for the disaster about to happen.

"Um... Eli, can I talk to you?" Adam muttered, avoiding the taller, dark-haired boy's eyes, which were visibly puffy. Not quite as bad as Clare's were, but still, enough to notice.

Eli's face hardened. "No, Adam, girlfriend-stealer, you may not. Clare's not into you. She's not a lesbian."

"Eli... you don't mean what you're saying," Adam whispered. "I'm not stealing her from you... and I'm not a girl. So it doesn't matter if Clare's not a lesbian..."

"Actually, Gracie, I DO know what I'm saying. You're just a dyke who's after my girl. And you're fucking delusional if you think that Clare would ever be with you. She loves me, Adam. I don't fucking want to talk to you," Eli shouted, his voice getting louder and louder as he got more and more upset with Adam.

"My name's not fucking Gracie! Eli, you're just upset, you need to calm down. You're just manic, okay? It'll be okay. I didn't steal your girlfriend, Eli. I never fucking wanted this to happen," Adam responded in as calm of a voice as he could muster. Eli was the last person that Adam figured would go to such a low blow as to call him by his birth name. He knew that Eli was clearly just angry, but it hurt more than he had thought it would.

"You've been fucking plotting this for a long time, Gracie," Eli sneered, an angry look crossing his face. "Fuck you, Gracie Torres. You have fucked up my life, and, you know what? I'm done with life. Congratulations."

A determined (but frightening) look on his face, Eli grabbed his keys and got into Morty, his hearse, and revved up the engine. He closed and locked the doors, shouted something Adam couldn't understand (it sounded something like "Fuck life), and pulled out of the parking lot... T-boning himself onto a school bus.

It seemed like everything went in slow motion for the ten minutes it took to get an ambulance there to take Eli to the hospital. It was a blur for Adam, who dialed 911 with shaking hands and screamed bloody murder. Simpson ran outside at the crash and asked Adam what had happened.

Adam stammered out all he knew and tried to explain what Eli had done before he pulled out. Terrified, he whispered, "Simpson, I think he tried to kill himself... because he and Clare broke up and he was yelling at me about how it was my fault and said he was done with life... Simpson, what if he's dead? I killed him... well, he told me I killed him... Simpson... I don't know what to do..."

At that, Adam lost it completely. He collapsed to the ground, tears falling as hard and fast as they'd ever fallen.

"Adam Torres, this is not your fault. I promise you. Eli will be fine," Simpson said loudly, throwing his arm around Adam's shoulder and calling over Drew, who had just arrived at school. "Drew, I need you to take Adam into my office. Get him some water and let him lie down. The ambulance will be here soon for Eli. Please don't ask him what happened. Just know that Mr. Goldsworthy will be okay. If you would be able to fetch Clare Edwards as well, I would appreciate it."

Safe in his older brother's arms, Adam walked to Simpson's office in a daze, tears coating his face. In less than twenty four hours, Adam had lost nearly everything. He slipped into sleep, with images of his best friend's car T-boned into a school bus. His life truly seemed to be falling apart before his eyes.

A/N Okay, there was your fourth chapter. Without reviews, I shan't write any more.

PS: In your review tell me: Should Eli live or die?


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